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Notes Here's the place to share news about interesting people and places, special products, conferences, organizations, and important developments in the world of sewing and needlework-or just to sound off. Write to: 63 S. Main St., PO Box Newtown, CT 06470-5506 or via e-mail (th@taunton.com ). Threads Notes, 5506, EXHI BITS At The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute (l000 Fifth Ave., New York City) through Aug. 22, the exhibition "Our New Clothes: Acquisitions of the 1990s" brings together a diverse collection of garments all donated or purchased by The Institute this decade. Recalling the practice of the 1930s and '40s, when The Costume Institute regularly displayed recent acquisitions, this exhibit is the first of its kind in more than 40 years. The galleries are organized by theme: "Women in White" looks at white dresses as they have appeared from the 1800s to today; "Men of Three Centuries" follows the evolution of fashionable menswear; "A History of Fashion" is documented in masterpieces gathered over 10 years; and "The Americans" and "The Contemporaries" address under-represented areas of the collection, American design and the most recent fashion history. A paperback catalog with color illustrations of the garments ($ 16.95) accompanies the exhibition and is available from The Metropolitan Museum Store (800468-7386). "Papiers a la Mode," an extraordinary exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology (Seventh Ave. at 27th St., New York City 10001-5992; 212-217-5800) traces 300 years of fashion history through dresses made entirely of paper. The paper has been transformed into fabric, including velvets, damasks, ribbons, and laces. Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave and Canadian costumer Rita Brown have created 25 dresses using papers that have been painted, crinkled, stenciled, and shaped into full-scale fashions, including a 17thcentury embroidered jacket, a lavish Venetian court dress from 1745, a Worth gown from 1898, and a Fortuny Delphos jack- a paper ... " the 1930s (see the photos above and at left). Organized by Dorothy Twining Globus, director of The Museum at FIT, the exhibit runs through Aug. 7 and is accompanied by a catalog ($25), available from The Museum at FIT. Also upcoming at FIT, the retrospective "Unmistakably Mackie" dazzles in a different way: one hundred of deSigner Bob Mackie's dramatic, glittering Hollywood creations, including Cher's notorious Oscar costumes, will be on display from Sept. 24-Dec. 31. Mackie's provocative style defined the public's fantasies of glamour for the 1970s. A book published in conjunction with the exhibition, Unmistakably Mackie (Universe, a division of Rizzoli., 1999, $49.95) is available at bookstores and from The Museum at FIT. et and dress from Dignity. Freedom. Legacy. Love. "Only dress! Garment from FIT's Papiers it la Mode (at left and above). 72 TH READS Kente cloth, perhaps the most recognizable of African textiles, carries potent associations for African and African-diaspora communities worldwide. The traveling exhibit, "Wrapped in Pride: Ghanian